February 23rd, 2012 02:35 PM

OKLAHOMA CITY — Russell Westbrook scored 31 points and Kevin Durant added 28 points and nine rebounds to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder over the Boston Celtics 119-104 on Wednesday.

The Thunder matched the Miami Heat for the best record in the NBA at 26-7 and Oklahoma City’s lead atop the Southwest division grew to eight games over Denver.

Oklahoma City scored 72 first-half points, the most by any club in a game this season, and led by 23 points at half-time.

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The Celtics pulled within six points in the fourth quarter but could not come any closer. Boston fell to 15-17 to hold the eighth and final playoff position in the Eastern Conference, one game behind the New York Knicks.

Kevin Garnett scored 23 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds for the Celtics, who had 23 points and a game-high eight assists from Paul Pierce while Ray Allen added 21 points.